guess

[ ges ]
See synonyms for: guessguessedguessesguessing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to arrive at or commit oneself to an opinion about (something) without having sufficient evidence to support the opinion fully: to guess a person's weight.

  2. to estimate or conjecture about correctly: to guess what a word means.

  1. to think, believe, or suppose: I guess I can get there in time.

verb (used without object)
  1. to form an estimate or conjecture (often followed by at or about): We guessed at the weight of the package.

  2. to estimate or conjecture correctly.

noun
  1. an opinion that one reaches or to which one commits oneself on the basis of probability alone or in the absence of any evidence whatever.

  2. the act of forming such an opinion: to take a guess at someone's weight.

Idioms about guess

  1. by guess and by gosh, Northern U.S. using a combination of guesswork and reliance on luck; hit or miss.: Also by guess and by golly.

Origin of guess

1
First recorded in 1300–50; (for the verb) Middle English gessen, perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Danish, Norwegian gissa, Middle Low German gissen, Middle Dutch gessen, Old Norse geta; noun derivative of the verb; cf. get

synonym study For guess

1, 2, 4. Guess, guess at, conjecture, surmise imply attempting to form an opinion as to the probable. To guess is to risk an opinion regarding something one does not know about, or, wholly or partly by chance, to arrive at the correct answer to a question: to guess the outcome of a game. Guess at implies more haphazard or random guessing: to guess at the solution of a crime. To conjecture is to make inferences in the absence of sufficient evidence to establish certainty: to conjecture the circumstances of the crime. Surmise implies making an intuitive conjecture that may or may not be correct: to surmise the motives that led to it.

Other words for guess

Opposites for guess

Other words from guess

  • guess·a·ble, adjective
  • guesser, noun
  • guess·ing·ly, adverb
  • pre·guess, noun, verb
  • un·guess·a·ble, adjective
  • un·guessed, adjective

Words that may be confused with guess

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use guess in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for guess

guess

/ (ɡɛs) /


verb(when tr, may take a clause as object)
  1. (when intr, often foll by at or about) to form or express an uncertain estimate or conclusion (about something), based on insufficient information: guess what we're having for dinner

  2. to arrive at a correct estimate of (something) by guessing: he guessed my age

  1. informal, mainly US and Canadian to believe, think, or suppose (something): I guess I'll go now

  2. keep a person guessing to let a person remain in a state of uncertainty

noun
  1. an estimate or conclusion arrived at by guessing: a bad guess

  2. the act of guessing

  1. anyone's guess something difficult to predict

Origin of guess

1
C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Swedish gissa, Old Danish gitse, Middle Dutch gissen; see get

Derived forms of guess

  • guessable, adjective
  • guesser, noun
  • guessingly, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with guess

guess

see anyone's guess; educated guess; have another guess coming; your guess is as good as mine.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.